By Ogochukwu Isioma
The Delta State Petroleum Products Monitoring Committee on Monday urged residents not to indulge in panic buying, saying that all bottlenecks within the petroleum industry that led to the recent fuel hike in pump price would soon be resolved.
Chairman of the Committee and State Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Prince Emman Amgbaduba gave the assurance in Warri shortly after a meeting with Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN.
Amgbaduba who also inspected some petrol stations in Warri and environs, said that with the delivery of 20 million litres of petrol at the Warri depot and the expected arrival of additional 15 million litres in a few days time, residents would no longer need to queue to buy the product.
Amgbaduba enjoined marketers to join hands with government to ensure that petrol was made available, accessible and affordable to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
He said the State Governor, Sen. Dr Ifeanyi Okowa feels the pains and suffering of Deltans over the non availability of the petroleum product, PMS, hence the setting up of the product monitoring team to interface with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that fuel was made accessible, available and affordable to all Deltans.
He decried the inability of the Federal Government to regulate and fix official pump price on PMS which is under it’s purview, adding that non availability of the product had caused untold hardship for citizens and promised that the state government’s intervention would soon bring relief to all.
On his part, Delta State Chairman Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Comrade Zino Onaemor urged the Committee to interface with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and depot owners to eradicate the activities of middle men.
He said Independent marketers do not buy the products at government regulated pump price because of the activities of agents and middlemen.
He said once the middlemen were removed and the prices brought down, marketers would be encouraged to sell at government approved pump price.
